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Fri, 22 Feb 2019 15:28:07 +0000Joomla! - Open Source Content Managementen-gbClexaCon, the largest convention for LGBTQ+ women and allies, returns to Las Vegas for a second year!https://www.lezbelib.com/entertainment-media/clexacon-the-largest-convention-for-lgbtq-women-and-allies-returns-to-las-vegas-for-a-second-year
https://www.lezbelib.com/entertainment-media/clexacon-the-largest-convention-for-lgbtq-women-and-allies-returns-to-las-vegas-for-a-second-year

Returning to Sin City for the second consecutive year, ClexaCon is a unique kind of media and entertainment convention for LGBTQ+ women and allies.

Taking place in Las Vegas April 5th through April 9th, 2018 at the Tropicana Hotel, ClexaCon celebrates queer female characters and stories, comics, books, connecting fans, celebrities, creators and journalists.

It also hosts a series of panels on a multitude of topics, workshops, charity events, parties, as well as a three-day film festival and a loud message of gender equality,female empowerment, diversity and inclusion.

The event brings together actresses, directors, producers, writers, comic book illustrators, visual artists, academics and fans from over 40 countries and all 50 U.S. states to celebrate the best of LGBTQ+ TV and film and discuss how to improve representation across all media platforms.

Nothing is more crucial and urgently important today than diversity and inclusion, and not just in Hollywood but in all business models and fields. This is where ClexaCon comes in as a leader in an industry-wide conversation to effectively rally together the decision makers and influencers of our community to formulate and put forth real change to counter the lack of representation for LGBTQ+ women in front and behind the camera.

With that in mind, ClexaCon aims to foster dialogue around various aspects of diversity including gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and age, among others.

It also focuses on ‘inclusion’ with a series of panels tackling issues ranging from ‘Bias in the Media and Stereotype’, ‘Bisexual Representation in the Media’, ‘Decolonizing the LGBTQ Sphere: Indigenous Queer Representation in the Media’, ‘Gaysian: Queer Asian Representation’ and ‘Disabled LGBTQ+ Representation’, to name a few.

Continuing its endeavor to create a morally accountable event, ClexaCon is dedicating its social responsibility platform this year to The True Colors Fund. Co-founded by Cyndi Lauper, the nonprofit organization works to end homelessness among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth, creating a world in which young people can be their true selves.

What started as a simple meet-up to unite fans of LGBTQ+ pop culture, evolved into a full-blown convention with over 2,000 attendees last year. ClexaCon is expected to welcome some 3,000+ attendees this spring.

In its first year, ClexaCon brought quite a variety of celebrity guests who are playing or have played LGBTQ+ characters on screen.

Last year, Sara Ramirez, known for her role as bisexual Dr. Callie Torres on the popular television series, Grey's Anatomy joined the conversation at the queer women of color pop-up panel, speaking about her own bisexuality and struggles as a biracial woman.

Ramirez wasn’t the only celeb to get personal. Many others joined the convention and this year will be no different.

The name ClexaCon was born from the fan favorite ship ‘Clexa’ (Clarke & Lexa) on the show The 100. In 2016, lesbian Commander Lexa was killed by a bullet minutes after consummating her relationship with bisexual lead, Clarke Griffin, thus checking all the boxes of the ‘Bury Your Gays’ trope. This heartbreaking moment led the organizers of ClexaCon to create one of the first conventions geared towards LGBTQ+ women to move the conversation forward in a more positive way.

ClexaCon was created and is run by Holly Winebarger, Ashley Arnold and Danielle Jablonski with the goal to provide a safe space and a world-wide community of LGBTQ+ women and allies who love TV, film, comics and books; to encourage more LGBTQ+ women to get involved in content creation; to embolden allies to improve representation for LGBTQ+ characters in their creative work.

“We hope attendees feel empowered. We want them to leave knowing this industry, like all industries, is in desperate need of more diverse voices. Pick up a camera, grab a pen, start writing, start creating because there are other people who care about what you have to say,” says Ashley Arnold.

What makes ClexaCon relevant and current within today’s social, cultural and political landscape is that it is the only event of its size in the world. More and more comic con-type events are popping up all over the U.S. but it’s hard to find LGBTQ+ content in those spaces, let alone events that are geared specifically to our community.

At a time when lesbian spaces, festivals and publications are rampantly vanishing all across the country, ClexaCon becomes fundamentally necessary to reconnect a community - making an impact by providing a safe place for LGBTQ+ women from all walks of life to come together and act as agents of change.

ClexaCon is dedicated to being both a resource and an advocate for the value of diversity, equality and inclusion. It is now becoming a marquee destination for all things women in entertainment, proving that there is both quality and quantity to be found when it comes to creative work that represent LGBTQ+ women.

A study shows a "pervasive and systematic" inequality against women, LGBTQ people and ethnic groups in Hollywood.

Of course, the results of this report are not a surprise. Already at the Oscars, many critics had emerged with a non-representation of black and Hispanicspeople.

USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalismhas conducted a study that highlights not only a lack of inclusion of LGBTQ people in the film industry, both in front of and behind the camera, but also a lack of visibility for ethnic groups and women in general.

The report is based on actors, directors, writers and popular movies between 2007 and 2015.

The conclusion is that there has been very little progress. About LGBTQ characters, in 2014, for example, there were only 19 against 32 in 2015 out of 4370 characters, with the appearance of one transgender character.

As for women's representation, the evolution is almost zero. In 2015, 31.4% were female roles except that eight years ago it was the same.

Same for the representation of ethnic groups.Between 2007 and 2015, it had no evolution either: around 12% were black, 5% were Latino and 4% were Asian.

"Despite all the chatter and all the activism and all the press attention, it’s another year where the status quo has been maintained.

"When we really drill down the numbers, we see a perpetuation of the same groups getting access to the most visible roles, whether that’s in the director’s chair or on screen, and that continues to be the problem plaguing Hollywood’s hiring practices."

Last week, Lady Gaga met White House's officials. Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Obama, said that she was "deeply moved" by her meeting with Lady Gaga and looks forward to working with her "to help make our society more kind, inclusive and equal."

Lady Gaga went to the White House to talk about bullying in school. In a blog on the White House website, Jarrett wrote "Lady Gaga is a source of strength for many young people who feel isolated and scared at their schools. Today, I had the opportunity to welcome her to the White House, where we discussed ways we could work together to make sure that no child comes under attack, regardless of his or her race, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other factor."

She added to be "proud to be part of an Administration that has taken steps to address bullying.

"In 2010, the Department of Education made it clear to schools that allowing bullying against LGBT students can violate anti-discrimination statutes.

"In 2011, the Department reaffirmed students’ rights to form gay-straight alliances and other similar groups.

"Earlier this year, President Obama and the First Lady held a White House Conference on Bullying Prevention.

"And today the Administration released a new analysis of state bullying laws and policies, summarizing the efforts currently in place to prevent bullying in and out of schools. The report shows that while states have made recent progress in enacting policies and legislation to address bullying, more must be done."